The Nobel laureates named two main threats to humanity

01.09.2017

Members of the British Times Higher Education magazine conducted a survey among 50 Nobel laureates, recipients of prestigious scientific prizes in physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, and Economics. The experts answered a series of questions concerning their own discoveries, the current state of science and the future awaiting mankind. As it turned out, the main global threats to humanityexperts believe environmental degradation and overpopulation.

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Population growth and the effects of global warming scare 34 percent of survey participants. 23 percent also mentioned as a significant threat, the risk of nuclear war. 8% said that enormous damage to humanity can bring to infectious disease if the bacteria will become immune to the medication. As many scientists tend to believe that humanity would be under threat if loose notions of morality. Among other popular options can be called terrorism and the mistakes of the ignorant rulers.

The uprising of artificial intelligence Nobel prize winners, for the most part, not afraid. Moreover, they do not share is emerging in the society the fear that one day robots will be left without work, including many scholars, only a quarter of respondents believed such a scenario is possible, and quite likely he was considered only one winner. Half of survey participants expressed the view that machines are unlikely to replace human researchers, and a quarter expressed confidence that this will never happen.

As for modern science, the main problem that she faces, according to 42 percent of scientists, is the lack of funding. Another popular response was the populism and the atmosphere of the so-called postpreda. Postrado is a phenomenon in which the discourse is mainly formed through an appeal to the emotions and personal convictions of the audience and is not based on objective arguments, which are based on concrete facts.

Only five percent took part in the survey, scientists expressed the view that, in General, populism, and political polarization do not represent a potential threat to science. 25 percent considered such a threat to the moderate, 30% serious, and 40 per cent very serious.

It is worth noting that the Nobel prize for literature and the Nobel peace prize publication was not questioned. Also you may recall that the award, in common parlance often called the “Nobel prize in Economics”, in fact is not the heritage of Alfred Nobel, established by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. However, she will also be awarded during the Nobel week is to be awarded to roughly the same criteria as the Nobel prize.